Woman Fired From Restaurant For Leaving Work to Get a Mammogram

A Pennsylvania woman is without a job after managers at her restaurant fired her for leaving work to get a mammogram without permission.

After she found a lump on her breast, Jamie Crytzer of Mercer County, Pennsylvania* scheduled a mammogram and cleared it with her managers at Hickory Grille in Hermitage, PA (it’s unclear what her position was at the restaurant). They cleared this, but when an earlier appointment opened up and Crytzer asked if she could leave to go take care of it—because it’s a potentially life-or-death scenario, and catching it earlier can make a difference—they told her no, specifically stating “you’re gonna do whatever you want and this is job abandonment.” She left anyway, and when she came back the next day, she was informed she’d been fired. Plus side for Crytzer: the lump was benign.

It’s important to note at this point that none of the parties involved disputes the chain of events here: Crytzer left work to get a mammogram, Hickory Grille hadn’t given her permission, Hickory Grille fired her. Where you stand on the issue probably comes down to how far you feel employee rights extend. There are people who will argue that since the revised appointment was not what Hickory Grille originally agreed to, Crytzer’s firing is justified. I understand that viewpoint, but regardless of what they claim, she was dealing with a potentially life-or-death issue—I struggle to see a scenario where they were so busy they couldn’t spare her for an hour. Regardless of whether they’re legally in the right (and of course they are, this is America, motto: “WORKER’S RIGHTS LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL”), ethically, this still seems like a dick move.

Hickory Grille’s statement that “all personnel actions taken were in complete accordance with proper personnel management” is kind of baffling, because since none of the facts in this case appear to be in dispute, what constitutes “proper personnel management” is a matter of some debate. It’s certainly not an industry standard definition, since the industry standard would be “treat them like shit, then step on their necks until they have nothing left to give you.” It’s doubly funny when you consider Hickory Grille led that particular quote by saying they couldn’t comment on the issue—then proceeded to comment on the issue. In Western PA, “irony” is part of the manufacturing process at a steel mill.

* Much as I would love to make a joke here about “there’s so little of value in Western PA that there’s no point in mentioning place names”—and even though it would be true—Mercer County is the closest thing to a residence that appears to be available for Crytzer.